Elevator



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

U. BISMITH.

BLEVATOR.

No. 280,251. Patented June 26, 1888.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Shmatz` 2. U. P. SMITH.

'BLEVATORI Patented June 26, 1883.

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- Inventor.' Uzz-e 2,5777 k To all whom it may con/cern:

r`frame, and at each floor is arranged a pair of Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a

Vinvention as it may be carried out practically PATENT OFFICE.

UZZIEL r. sMITH, 0E CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

E LEVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0.`28'o,251, dated June 26,1883.

Application filed July 22, 1882. (No model.)

Be it known that I, UZZIEL P. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi! nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevators, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which t Figurel represents a front elevation of the elevator mechanism, the car being in section;

vertical section of the same on an enlarged scale, taken on the line x x, Fig. l, and showing a slight modification, Fig. 4C, a detail plan section taken on the line y y, Fig. 3; Fig. 5, a detail elevation of the hoistinggear 5 and Fig. 6, adetail section taken on the line z z, and on a scale somewhat larger than Fig. 5.

My invention relates to elevators for buildings and other hoisting apparatus, being intended for application more especially-to pas` senger-elevators, particularly of a small and cheap class adapted to residence buildings.

The object of my invention is -to obtain an elevator which can be easily operated, lpower being obtained even at an ex )ense of rapidity of movement, and which shall also be substantially perfect in safety.

I will proceed to describe the construction and operation of Aan elevator embodying my in one way, and will then point out deiinitely in the claims the special improvements which I believe to be new and wish to protect by Letters Patent.

In the drawings, A represents the elevatorwell, which maybe constructed as usual, within which is an upright frame, B. Theiiooring C of the different stories extends inward` to this sliding doors, D, supported between the iioor and ceiling e c', between which they slide back each way, but when projected into the well meet near the middle thereof. On the edges of these doors, projecting into the well, are antifriction rollers d, and aweight, D, is attached to the other edge of each door by means of a cord, d', which is carried inward to the well, passing over a pulley, cl2, just inside thereof, so that the weights hang within the well and tend to close the sliding doors. The car E is of ordinary construction,` except thatnatneacli end there'is a frame, e, extending above and` below the respective ends of the car, the side bars, e, of which are inclined, meeting each other in the middle over the car, and sloping downward and outward to the edge thereof, this inclination, being in the direction of the movement of the sliding doors, which close the elevator-well, so that the apex of the framearches will strike between the doors and separate them as the car passes up and down. The car is attached at its upper end to a shaft, F, running across it', on one endof which is a drum, f, and at the opposite end va smaller drum, f. p

At the top of the well is a supplementary frame, B, in which is mounted a shaft, G, parallel with the shaft F, carrying. at one end a small drum, g, corresponding to the small drum j", but arranged on the end of the shaft corresponding to the drum f. On.v the opposite end of the shaft G is alarge drum, g, corresponding to the drum f. The car is mainly suspended by cables H and H, the former attached to the drums f g, so as to wind and unwind upon them, and the latter attached to and winding and unwnding upon the drums f g; but the cables cross each other so as to run in the opposite direction. A gear-wheel, G', is also iixed on the shaft G, and in the upper part of the supplementary frame a shaft, I, is mounted parallel with the shaft G, on which is a pinion, t', arranged to engage with the gear-wheeLG. At one end of this shaft there is also a balancewheel, I, to give' steadiness of motion. The boxes i', in which the shaft I is mounted, are provided with slots i2, through which the fastening-bolts pass, so that the shaft may be adjusted to pinions of different size, as 'occasion may require.

Obviously the rotation of the shaft I will revolve the drum-shaft G, and so raise and lower the car. This is accomplished by means of a rope, J, passing around a pulley, K, on the shaft I and a similar pulley, K', on a shaft, la, at the bottom of the well, the rope being arranged to run through the car, so as to be grasped by the occupant and pulled on one side or the IOO other, according to the direction in which it is desired the car should move; o r one side of the rope may be arranged outside of the car. An endless sprocket-chain, L, Is arranged on each side of the c'ar, just outside thereof, ruiming over sprocket-whcelsl onthe shaft G, and similar wheels, Z, on the shaft 7c, at the bottom of the well. l

On each side of the car is a train of gear-l wheels, M, N, and O, all of them mounted' on journals attached to the car, and in thisinstance arranged at the lower end' of the latter, though this particular location is not essential. These wheels are arranged in train between 'and within the endless sprocket-chains, re-

spectively, the outside wheels, M and O, being located so that the teeth m and o on their periphery will engage with the chain on opposite sides, respectively. These wheels M and O are of the same size and have the same number of teeth, adapted to work in the links of the chains. The middlewheel, N, is in thisinstance larger than the other two, and is provided with a series of teeth, f/z., on its periphery, and a smaller gear, or, on one side thereof, with which the teeth on the wheel O engage.

A gear, m/,vis also provided on the back side of the wheel M, with which the teeth u on the periphery of the wheel N engage; but the teeth i m have no engagement with the wheel N.

Now, from the way in which the hoisting apparatus is geared and the-train of gears just described is arranged, it is obvious that whenever the car is moved up or down that portion of the chain with which the wheel M engages willmove in a direction opposite to the car, while that portion of the chain on the other side of the train with which the wheel O cngages will move withV the car, and of course this will cause the wheel M to rotate in a direction opposite to the movement of its section of chain, while the wheel O must rotate in a direction with its section of chain, or the car could not move. As theicar with the train of gears attached moves in a direction opposite to the section of chain with which the wheel M engages, the latter will of course be rotated more rapidly than the wheel O, if both wheels are free to rotate with the movement of their Y respective sections of the endless chain.

It will be seen that the small gear-wheel on the wheel M engages with the larger gearwheel N, the small gear of which in turn engages with the wheel O; hence the motion imparted to the wheel O from the wheel M would be considerably slower than the rotation of the latter, and the gears are so calculated that this difference will be the same as that due to the different directions in which the respective chains move.

It is also obvious that, in accordance with the well-known laws of mechanics as applied i to gearing, the force applied to the wheel M exerts a greater power at the wheel O, which moves slower than the wheel M. The movement of the chains, effected by their respective driving-wheels, has a tendency to move the car up and down, and, in fact, this portion of the apparatus may be sufficiently strong to accomplish this result alone. The power appliedto the wheel M, then, will be increased as it is applied to the opposite chain through the wheel O, and therefore I gain power, as it assists in the hoisting, though of course at a loss lof speed. In the drawings it will be seen, too,

that the pulley over which the hand-rope passes is provided with a large gear on the elevated shaft, by which arrangement I also gain power, so that with the entire apparatus an occupant of the car will be enabled to lift a considerably greater weight than himself,

though of course the movement will bc cornparatively slow.

The three wheels M, N, and O have been described above as having a certain relative size and arrangement. This, however, is a mere illustration of lthe application of this device, as the only rule necessary to be observed is to so construct and combine these gears that they will have the relative movement of their respectivechains, as described above, and thiscan always be determined mathematically in connection with the main apparatus 'for hoisting the car and the size of the sprocket-wheels over which the chains run; and the number of l :gearsmay be increased, if desired.

The chain and gear-train also furnish a complete safety-brake to the car, so that if the main hoisting apparatus gives way the whole weight-of the caris obviously thrown upon the chains, and the descent of the car would then exert a force on each side of the chain in the same direction, thereby tending to turn the wheel O in the opposite direction from the wheel M. the weight of the car, and the latter will be held fast, supported by the chains and gearwheels engaging therewith. It will be observed that this locking effect is alwaysI produced the moment the hoisting-power ceases to be applied, whatever may be the location of the car, for the latter will at once settleback slightly, which throws the lock into operation, and the car is therefore always locked eXcept when the hoisting-power is applied but the moment this power is applied to move the car Vineither direction it at once releases the lock by causingthe wheels M and O to move in the same direction and in proper relation to the movement of their chains, while before they were under the influence of a force tending to move them in opposite directions, and hence opposed to the movement ofthe chains.

In order to prevent spreading of the chains, upright ways P may be arranged on each side, presenting grooves or shallow troughs neXt to the chains, in which the latter run, as shown in Figs. 3 and Li-of the drawings. A balance, Q, is also provided, attached to a rope, q, which is wound upon a drinn, g', on the main drum shaft, being arranged to operate in the usual way to fall as the car ascends and rise as it descends.

The safety device described above` may be applied to a different style of elevator, and I do not limit myself to its application in the IOO The gear-.train is therefore set byV t IIO precise connection explained above, nor to the precise details-of -construction in the several parts of the elevator as herein described and shown.

train ofl gears will be suflicient, in others this In some instances a single chain and device should be arranged on each side of the car, and in others still it may be-desirable to arrange two or more trainson each side ofthe car, engaging with the same chain.' lSprings may also be Asubstituted for the Weights operating the sliding doors, and a eXible gearbelt for the sproeketchains.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isn

l. An elevator-car, in combination with an endless chain or belt running over suitable driving-pulleys, and a train of gears, as M N O, attached to the car, and of which the outer ones engage with the chain or belt onoppoa site sides, respectively, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

and operating substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth. v

3. The elevator-car E, in combination With the driving-rope J, pulleys K K, hoistingshaft @hoisting-cables H H, endless chains 3o or belts L, chain-Wheels Z Z', and gears M, N, and O, attached to the car, substantially as described. 4

4. The elevator-car, in combination with the gear-wheels' M, N, and O, attached thereto, 35 endless chains or belts L, and -guideways P, substantially as described.

UZZIEL P. SMITH.

Witnesses:

JNO. C. MAoGREGoR, J. W. MILLINGTON. 

